Self-driving cars. Computers that beat humans on Jeopardy!. The magic of Google Translate. If you want to learn about artificial intelligence, which powers all of the above, but don’t know how to get started, then the 2011 AI Challenge may be just what you’re looking for. In the 2011 AI Challenge, sponsored by Google, you will create a computer program that controls a colony of ants. Your ants must search for food in order to multiply, and also defend your colony from ants controlled by other players. You submit your code online (updating and adding to it as often as you wish) and watch your ants battle it out against ants submitted by other people from around the world.

You may be wondering what sort of experience you need to compete in the AI Challenge. The answer is: none! The AI Challenge, which is run by students for students, is accessible to everyone, from experts to beginners. There are tutorials, walkthroughs and strategy guides available for free on the website to get you started. You can even download a simple working entry to use as a starting point.

So what are you waiting for? Submissions open today on aichallenge.org and will close in December. Join the challenge and you’ll be able to submit a basic entry and see your name on the global leaderboard (among thousands of other competitors!) in under 5 minutes.